NewStats: 3,263,921 , 8,181,894 topics. Date: Sunday, 08 June 2025 at 07:02 PM 4k2b28

• CITAC insists Dangote, NNPC refineries struggling with capacity utilisation

• Price hike crashes petrol demand by 11%

• ARDA, APPO, Afrexim, AEC urge halt on exportation, climate priorities

By : Kingsley Jeremiah, Abuja

Over 75 per cent of the 1.9 billion barrels of crude oil produced in Nigeria and other African countries in 2024, translating to 1.4 billion barrels was exported to Europe and other continents at the detriment of local refineries and the rising energy poverty on the continent.

While African countries imported about $30 billion worth of petroleum products last year, the President Bola Tinubu-led deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry crashed demand for Motor Spirit (PMS) by 11 per cent in Nigeria.

Speaking at the yearly conference of African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) in Cape Town, South Africa with focus on ‘Africa First: Delivering Our Energy Future’, the stakeholders disclosed that capacity utilisation remained a challenge for Dangote’s 650,000bpd refinery, the 60,000bpd Port Harcourt and 75,000bpd Warri refineries commissioned last year by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) among others in Ghana and Angola.

This alarming trend, coupled with a worsening refining and distribution infrastructure, forced the stakeholders to demand immediate action to reverse a $45 billion loss in investment and $86 billion in foregone government revenues due to inefficiencies across Africa.

Executive Vice President of Afreximbank, Kanayo Awani, at the event, said Africa must take control of its energy resources and prioritise energy security to drive economic development.

Emphasising the need for sustainable, locally-driven solutions to address the continent’s energy challenges, Awani criticised the continent’s penchant for exporting raw materials while importing refined products, noting that Africa exports 80 per cent of its crude oil and 45 per cent of its natural gas but still faces energy poverty.

Afreximbank, Awani disclosed, is investing in refining capacity to address this imbalance, committing over $4 billion to projects in Nigeria, including the Dangote Refinery and the Port Harcourt Refinery redevelopment. The bank is also backing a $3 billion trade financing programme to boost intra-African petroleum product trade.

She highlighted the importance of industrialisation, local content development and intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to ensure energy security.

The stakeholders said while the continent spent $30 billion on petrol export last year, most refineries on the continent remained idle.

Executive Secretary of ARDA, Anibor Kragha, called for greater investment in Africa’s downstream oil and gas sector to match the continent’s growing upstream production.

Kragha stressed the urgent need to refine more of Africa’s crude oil locally, build regional pipelines and expand energy infrastructure to reduce dependence on imports.

He also warned that Africa’s reliance on imported fuel made it vulnerable to supply disruptions.

“If imports stopped for just 30 days, much of Sub-Saharan Africa would grind to a halt,” he said, highlighting the continent’s insufficient refining and strategic storage capacity.

Despite producing over five million barrels of oil per day, Africa’s downstream investments remain low, with just $15 million to $20 million allocated last year.

The ARDA chief pointed out that while Congo Brazzaville was on track to produce 500,000 barrels per day, its Pointe-Noire refinery could only process 24,000 barrels, illustrating the urgent need for capacity expansion.

“We must harmonise the upstream and downstream sectors to secure Africa’s energy future,” he said. “Energy security, cleaner fuels and efficient storage solutions must be at the heart of our strategy.”

Decrying Africa’s energy infrastructure, Chairman of African Energy Chamber (AEC), NJ Ayuk, said: “Refineries are not functioning, storage barely exists, and pipelines are rusting or being blown up. We face a $15.7 billion shortfall in energy infrastructure funding.”

He stressed the need to ‘refine, refine, refine’ and condemned trade barriers that stifle intra-African commerce, noting, “You can send crude across borders, but an African with a port cannot move freely.”

Ayuk also dismissed carbon credit schemes as a “scam” and championed natural gas as the backbone of Africa’s industrialisation: “The sun won’t shine forever, but LNG and LPG can solve our clean cooking crisis and provide reliable power.”

APPO President, Omar Farouk, criticised decades of externally dictated energy policies.
“For too long, Africa’s resources have served others’ needs. Now, we must take control of our financing, technology, and markets.”

https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria-africa-starve-local-refineries-export-1-4b-barrels-crude/

The divorce rate is so high because people get ready for the WEDDING and not for MARRIAGE!

Everything is dark in this country dungeon; our heart, our brain, our mind .


No wonder we are not progressive 😔

No sense!
The day African leaders wake up and realise the reason the continent is poor is because we export raw materials instead of finished products (which we now buy back), all these western countries will start begging us for money to survive.
Our leaders would rather find "foreign investors" to come and buy our natural resources for cheap price for 100 years!
And some accursed individuals will still come here and praise them for bringing FDI.

Everyone country is hustling for the green backs which will ultimately be embezzled by those on the corridor

Blame our leaders

Although accurate, this feels like a Dangote sponsored news article.
That's me kidding by the way.

I think we should do better in Africa. Governments want to earn more by exporting and earning in dollars, yet want the refineries (especially the private ones) to lower their prices after sourcing for crude overseas. That's not a fair expectation.

Most of the crude is being exported because at the end of the day, african countries want money to share, not industrial products to export.

Whatever you are smoking is clearly harmful to your health

azadus18:
The divorce rate is so high because people get ready for the WEDDING and not for MARRIAGE!

I no more weep for Nigeria,my tears are dried up

Zoo

Just imagine..Bunch of Oloriburukus we call leaders ..they will rather feed foreigners to their own ... All of una , e ni kure

Corruption is the bane of Nigeria.

The African man and his love for western currencies knows no bounds.

The average African is very selfish, greedy and parochial.

Give the African a choice between an investment that would give everyone in the society wealth and comfort and an investment that would make him extremely wealthy and comfortable while the society languishes in penury.
The African will choose the latter.



Is the black man a freak of Nature?
Was he intentionally created?

nairalanda1:
Most of the crude is being exported because at the end of the day, african countries want money to share, not industrial products to export.

First time i see you make a valid point
Congrats!!

Discovery FUEL is d beginning of this nation







PROBLEM

Agbegbaorogboye:

First time i see you make a valid point
Congrats!!

Suffering in the midst of plenty

Dangote refineries case in point

Corruption firmly in control.

The insect consuming the vegetables lives with the vegetables.

They starve even local businesses. Idiotic nation.

AmiableMosquito:
Although accurate, this feels like a Dangote sponsored news article.
That's me kidding by the way.

I think we should do better in Africa. Governments want to earn more by exporting and earning in dollars, yet want the refineries (especially the private ones) to lower their prices after sourcing for crude overseas. That's not a fair expectation.

Government should focus on home production, the more we refine here, the more value we are adding, this creates jobs and taxes for government, as well as boost local economy, if we refine locally, the price will be lower for Nigerians, low fuel price enhances economic activities and ease of life for Nigerians ...more small businesses, more transactions, more production
etc...government should focus on reducing prices of basic things, food, housing, fuel, electricity, so Nigerians have more disposal income, this stimulates the economy due to ability to spend.

Agbegbaorogboye:

First time i see you make a valid point
Congrats!!

he still didnt make sense. The leaders are not the countries. It is leaders who want money to share.

Standing5:
he still didnt make sense. The leaders are not the countries. It is leaders who want money to share.

You've put some spine in the old boy.

The day Niger delta wakes up from her slumber will be the end of Nigeria

OkCornel:
The African man and his love for western currencies knows no bounds.

when $2 was N1 it wasn't like that.

They have used the crude to take loans, so they have to fulfill their bargain or risk sanctions

Also gas. Any company that wants to get gas locally will fight and herculean task. Gas will be exported will local consumption is starved

Bring the price of fuel down and every other thing whose price depends on oil will also reduce.

AmiableMosquito:
Although accurate, this feels like a Dangote sponsored news article.
That's me kidding by the way.

I think we should do better in Africa. Governments want to earn more by exporting and earning in dollars, yet want the refineries (especially the private ones) to lower their prices after sourcing for crude overseas. That's not a fair expectation.

Nigeria is not doing Dangote any favours. If the country denies Dangote access to raw materials and undermines its operations by importing products from abroad despite domestic production capabilities, why would any company invest here? For example, if you continue to import steel, why would anyone plan to invest in building a steel plant locally? It doesn't make sense.

nairalanda1:
Most of the crude is being exported because at the end of the day, african countries want money to share, not industrial products to export.

I can’t fault your observation sir